Why teaching jobs are considered so underrated

Teaching jobs are one of the most underrated jobs. Want to know why? Read on.

Teacher’s Day just passed by this month. People, once again, like every year, could see their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter feeds filled with heart warming messages, images with glossy texts showing what life would be like without teachers, messages filled with regards, messages filled with regrets for not listening to one’s teachers, messages expressing love, admiration and so much more.

Here are a few samples : –

“Thank you mam for making me the person I am today. “

“Your teachings that seemed boring at the time is the only thing helping me progress me in life now. “

All the respect, love, admiration teachers seem to get on teacher’s day might fool one into thinking that it is one of the best jobs in the world but that’s not the case usually (even when teaching is indeed one of the best jobs in the world).

Teaching jobs, professor jobs require one to be disciplined (shouldn’t that be a default, especially when you have to discipline several children yourself), hardworking and most importantly one needs to have an affinity towards constant learning, routine life, public speaking and more.

Now let’s discuss why teaching jobs are considered to be one of the most underrated professions in India. A profession is called underrated when people (or majority of them) fail to see the value it provides in terms of compensation, respect, lifestyle etc.

There are many things that have led to the perception of teaching being an average job, but the biggest cause is the teachers themselves, not all, but the specific ones who chose this career not out of passion but just because they couldn’t settle in any other profession. Teaching is often the “Plan B’ for majority of people and as a result, many people don’t prefer teaching as their first profession and end up undermining the profession.

Another reason people undermine the profession is because of the conception around the pay teachers and professors receive, but the truth is entirely different. Initial compensation is low like most of the fields , especially if you are starting as a school teacher but you start getting a handsome pay as you move up the ladder. As far as the compensation for professors is concerned, you just need to look up the numbers yourself and you won’t be left disappointed.

But one more instance when a profession is considered underrated is when people underestimate the hard work that the profession requires. And if that is the reason you undermine teaching as a profession, here are a few things that will change your perception : –

Why Teaching Jobs are Underrated

Teaching itself is changing as a profession

Thanks to the advancements in the fields of Smart Classes, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Labs, Mobile Apps and more, the role of teacher is always changing. It is not one of those professions where one can stay relevant doing what he or she did 5 years ago. In an age when people are debating about whether teachers will be replaced my machines or not, a continuous efforts towards learning and upgrading oneself needs to come as a default to teachers today, which, to be honest, is a hard thing to foster in real life.

You have to go beyond your formal role

Building on top of the topic mentioned in the first point, machines might not be able to replace teachers because of one single reason – a real teacher’s job goes beyond teaching and assessment. For lots of students, teachers and professors are their sole source for life-issues related counselling, motivation, validation and sometimes even friendship. That’s the reason students stay in touch with their teacher even when they have graduated from their classes a long time back. This part of the job is not mentioned on paper but comes as a default and is one task that simply cannot be and should not be avoided.

You are probably doing 25-30 jobs at a time

No classroom is uniform in terms of quality of the students. In each classrooms, there are students who might be excelling in academics while some might be doing a phenomenal job in terms of co curricular activities while there are some children who might be disadvantages socially, economically or physically. At the end of the day, all these students are unique individual and to foster their learning in the right manner, you have to customize your teaching accordingly. While it’s not a mandate, but you need to give time to each student individually and understand their needs. That is why teaching a classroom of 25-30 students at a time is often comparable to doing 25-30 jobs.

You have long hours and work that you have to take to your home

When people think about jobs where workers have to work long hours,toiling away their nights in front of computers, people usually think of people in media or ad industry, coders at tech companies, agents working in the customer service domain and more. While teachers don’t have to sit for that long in their workplace, that is, schools, to do their work, they often have to bring their work to their homes. When tests are to be checked, or a new topic has to be introduced, teachers often spend hours working even when the official hours are over. If you want to get into the teaching field thinking you will be home by afternoon and then you can resume with your normal life, you might want to reconsider your career options.

Despite all the hardships, teachers job is a rewarding one in many ways. It’s one of those noble professions where you get respect ( at least in the longer term), decent money and a chance to actually contribute to the society in a meaningful way.

It’s completely wrong to undermine teaching as a profession because teachers build the future by building the ones who are the future themselves. When such an important task is part of your key responsibility areas, one simply cannot emphasize enough on the importance of teachers and the roles that they play in our lives and in our society.

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Posted by Rishabh Mehta

Product and revenue focused entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience in creating and leading successful brands in the education & training sector, Rishabh Mehta is the founder and C.E.O of What After College, one of the fastest growing education startups in India.

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